Egregious accusations ignore basic facts on Xinjiang

As China has lodged stern representations with Turkey over its foreign ministry's statement on anti-terrorism efforts of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, it is necessary to further expose the absurdness of those egregious remarks, distortions and baseless accusations by reviewing the basic facts on ground.

In its statement, Turkey's foreign ministry voiced its so-called concern about what is going on in Xinjiang, claiming famous Uygur musician Abdurehim Heyit died a year after he was taken into custody. "In fact, he is alive and very healthy," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying responded on Monday, saying the statement was based on an absurd lie and such a move was "extremely wrong and irresponsible."

It is rather ridiculous and egregious to make such false remarks and point fingers at the domestic affairs of other countries. Obviously, Turkey's statement utterly disregards some basic facts about Xinjiang.

Xinjiang has made notable progress in its fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism. These three evil forces at home and abroad have plotted, organized and conducted thousands of violent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang since the 1990s, causing massive casualties among innocent people of various ethnic groups.

Drawing on international anti-terrorism experience and considering local circumstances, Xinjiang has exerted great efforts to counter terrorism and extremism through such measures as vocational education training centers. These moves have significantly improved people's sense of security and happiness in the autonomous region.

Public security-related cases have decreased substantially in Xinjiang. Last year, the per capita disposable income of its rural and urban residents increased by 8.4 percent and 6.5 percent respectively. Xinjiang hosted 150 million tourists last year, up 40 percent from 2017, which is only more proof of its enhanced security and stability.

The facts about Xinjiang's anti-terrorism work and religious freedom have also been seen first-hand and recognized by diplomats from 12 countries and media representatives from six countries including Turkey during their visits to Xinjiang in the past two months.

In contrast to how the Turkish foreign ministry had described Xinjiang's vocational education centers, those diplomats and journalists saw smiling faces of people in different localities in the region.

Turkish ATV reporter Tugcenur Yilmaz said that trainees are learning laws and skills, which play an important role in de-extremism. Kabaziyev Manarbek, Counselor of the Kazakhstan Embassy in China, said students master vocational skills through training and make a living with these skills later in life, which shows that the Chinese government truly cares about these trainees.

Terrorism is the common enemy of humanity. Turkey faces terrorism threats, too. And it has been cracking down on Islamic State terrorists. It is the shared responsibility of the international community to counter terrorism and provide people with a safe and stable environment to live a better life. In this regard, pointing fingers at others based on unfounded information or adopting double standards is unwise and unreasonable. Such moves will only harm a country and its relationship with others.

For Turkey, the right choice is to make unbiased and impartial judgements, correctly view and understand China's policy and efforts, and take concrete actions to promote mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries.